


Unexpected Plans

by ObsidianRomance



Series: A Matter of Coincidence 'Verse [20]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Cute Kids, M/M, Male Lactation, Mpreg, Schmoop, graphic birth, mpreg Jared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2013-11-12
Packaged: 2018-01-01 06:38:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1041547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsidianRomance/pseuds/ObsidianRomance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You need to read <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/697800">"Confined Spaces"</a> and the other installments of the "A Matter of Coincidence" Verse to understand this story.</p><p>Jared and Jensen deal with the arrival of their son and all the emotions that go with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected Plans

**Author's Note:**

> [](http://www.flickr.com/photos/85421651@N04/10813551685/)   
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> Banner made by the lovely [Kadysn](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Kadysn/pseuds/Kadysn)

Jensen leaned down, pressing a kiss to Jared’s sleep tussled hair.  “Morning babe.”  Standing upright, he stretched, working the last remnants of sleep from his muscles.

“Morning.”  Jared smiled and went back to cutting up Arianna’s and Brooke’s breakfast.  He paused to rub the side of stomach, taking a few calming breaths before finishing his task.

“Hey munchkins!”  Bending down between the two twins, Jensen pulled them close to him, turning his head to give each of them a kiss on their chubby cheeks.  “Good morning.”

Brooke giggled.  “I’m having waffles, Daddy.”  She took a determined stab at the cut up pieces Jared had just placed before her.

“Me too!”  Arianna bounced in her seat.  “Want some, Daddy?”  She offered her small children’s fork spearing a triangle of waffle to Jensen.

“No thank you, angel.  You eat it all up so you can get big and strong.”  Jensen ruffled her hair and took a seat beside Jared so that he could coast a palm over the man’s rounded belly.  “How is our little jack rabbit?”  Smiling, he let his palm linger there and leaned closer to give Jared another kiss, this time a soft one on the lips.

“He’s doing okay.”  Jared covered Jensen’s hand with his own.  He let the older man pull away and sat in silence as he watched him pour a bowl full of cereal.  Mid-pour, Jared piped up.  “I think I’m having contractions.”

The words didn’t hit Jensen at first, but when they did he froze, consequentially overflowing his cereal bowl.   “You _think_ you’re having contractions?”

“Ok, I _know_ I’m having contractions.  I _think_ I’m in labor.”  Jared gave a nervous smile and sucked in his bottom lip.

Jensen’s world narrowed down to that one little piece of information.  The words coming out of Jared’s mouth were the ones they’d been counting down towards but they still took him by surprise.  Jensen wasn’t stupid, he knew Chase would have to arrive eventually but the actuality of such an action packed event shattering through the last few calm, easy weeks seemed surreal.  He wasn’t sure how to get his brain working again or functioning enough to ask Jared anything more than, “for how long?”

“A few hours.  Since before the girls were up.”  Rubbed his middle and shrugged.  His eyes caught sight of Brooke using her hands to dip pieces of waffle in a ration of syrup, the little girl getting a string of syrup all over her hands before shoving the food in her mouth.  “Brooke!  No hands!  Use your fork baby.”  He tapped the fork and smiled when he daughter grabbed it, twisted it awkwardly in her hands and made a valiant attempt to eat her breakfast with it.

Jensen raised an eyebrow.  Had Jared heard what he just said?  He wasn’t sure how his boyfriend could go from telling him he was in labor to worrying about their daughter’s table manners.  “Jay, why didn’t you wake me up?  I could’ve…I could’ve…”

“Stared at me like I’m a ticking time bomb?”  Jared smiled and put a reassuring hand over Jensen’s.  “I wanted you to sleep, Jen.  There was no point in both of us being awake when there was very little you could do to help the situation right now.  I’d rather you save your energy for later, when you actually _can_ help.  Besides, feeding the girls their breakfast is hardly a herculean task.  I’m okay.  The contractions are still a little irregular.  Maybe every ten to fifteen minutes apart.  We’ve got time.”

Jensen blinked a few times before licking his lips.  “But I…well…”  He gave a frustrated snort and gave up trying to get his helplessness across.

“Aww, Jen,” Jared pouted as he leaned forward and kissed Jensen’s confused lips.  “We’ve got time.  I called Jane and let her know what’s going on.  She said that, unless we need her, we should give her another call when the contractions are a steady five minutes apart.”  As if on cue, Jared closed his eyes and let out a slow calculated breath.

“Jay?”

“I’m okay.”  Jared opened his eyes enough to nod at Jensen.  Grabbing the man’s hand, he pressed it to his contracting middle.  “We’re okay.”  He let out a whispered moan and went back to breathing.

Jensen’s fingers stretched out over the swell of Jared’s stomach.  He felt the tension underneath and it sent his heart fluttering.  Over the last few weeks, Jared’s belly had changed.  Jared himself looked just as he ever did but his belly was round and prominent.  A few weeks ago it dropped, a sign Jensen had very much understood regardless of his current shock at the fact that Jared was actually in labor.  Swallowing loudly, Jensen looked at his boyfriend with wide eyes.  “You’re going to have our baby today.”

“God, I hope so.”  Jared let out a laugh as the tension left his body.  “I’m so tired of being _tired_.  And huge. And clumsy.”

Hearing Jared’s laugh confused Jensen.  “How are you not freaking out right now?”

Shrugging, Jared smiled.  “I dunno.  I’m just not.  Right now, I’m mostly excited and relieved.  I just wanna see him.  And maybe I am kinda resolved to the fact that labor has gotta happen before that.”

Jensen knew Jared had a point but it didn’t stop him from freaking out.  He nodded at his boyfriend while trying to rein in his thoughts.  His heart thumped in his chest and he tried to figure out the appropriate course of action.  Instead, he could only dumbly repeat, “you’re going to have our baby today.”

An understanding smile spread over Jared’s face.  “Yeah, Jen.”

“What should I do?  What do you want me to do?”

“Right now?  I want you eat something.  Then you can help me clean up our girls who look like they’ve gotten more syrup on their face than in their mouth.”

When Jensen looked at Arianna and Brooke, who were happily licking syrup from their fingers in between bites of waffle, a smile that spread across his face couldn’t be stopped.  They looked so adorable and the thought derailed his building nervousness.  Forcing himself to pick up his own spoon and attempt to eat a bowl of cereal, he didn’t really taste any of it.  His mind was off on other courses of thought and planning.  “You think we should call your mother?”

“No!”  Jared blurted out before he realized how odd his strong reaction must seem.  “I mean…I want you to call her, but not right now.  I’m glad she’s going to be here when Chase is born to help watch the girls but I know that if we call her now, she’ll come over here, regardless of us telling her to wait.  There isn’t much happening right now and I kinda wanna spend it with you and the girls before things get hectic.  Maybe watch a movie with them before my contractions get more intense?  Just our little family?”

“Okay.”  Jensen nodded.  He had an odd sense of calm before the storm but he knew Jared had a point.  They had quite a bit of waiting in front of them before anything happened and family time sounded good.  It was the last time they would have family time with only their daughters.  He knew his and Jared’s parents meant well, but sometimes their attempts to help were suffocating.  He was thankful Sherri and Paul offered to stay at Donna and Alan’s for the week.  As much as Jensen loved having Sherri and Paul stay with them after their impromptu baby shower and for Christmas, he was thankful Jared’s parents understood his and Jared’s much needed time to nest and prepare for Chase’s arrival on their own.

That didn’t mean they hadn’t seen them every day since they’d arrived.  Still, it was nice to wake up in their own house without the pressure to entertain or worry about Sherri and Paul.  Jensen had put work on hold for the week with the intention of soaking up the remaining time they had left as a family of four.

Arianna let out a triumphant giggle and put her hands in the air.  “All done!”

Not to be out done, Brooke shoved a last piece of waffle in her mouth and spoke while chewing, cheeks adorably puffed out.  “Me too!”

Pushing his bowl of cereal away, Jensen stood up and kissed Jared on the top of the head.  “You get a movie started.  I’ll get Ari and Brooke all cleaned up.”  He waited for Jared’s nod before scooping each girl into his arms and kissing them on the cheeks.  Lips coming away with syrupy stickiness, he gave each of his daughters a mock nibble on the cheek.  “You two taste so good, I should’ve eaten you for breakfast.”  He went in for another playful nibble but both girls swatted at him in a fit of giggles.

“No, daddy! No!”  Brooke squealed and made a fruitless attempt to break free of Jensen’s hold on her.  “No, daddy!  Don’t eat me.”

“Okay, maybe I’ll just have a little bite of Ari.”  He went to blow a raspberry on Arianna’s cheek and she exploded into a fit of giggles.

“No, daddy!”  Breath catching, Arianna’s uncontrollable giggling turned into a hiccup.  “Eat Brookey!”

“I want to eat both of you!  You look so yummy.”  Toting them towards the bathroom, he kept mock nibbling at their cheeks and necks while tickling their middles.  The laughter grew so loud and contagious that by the time Jensen was scrubbing their cheeks, his own middle hurt from joining in with his girls’ giggles.

Once finished, he herded two clean girls back towards their den area where Jared was already situated on the couch.  He had his eyes pinched closed and nose wrinkled.

“Jare, are you….” The question trailed off as Jensen took a seat beside his boyfriend.

“Yeah.  They’re getting stronger…not closer.”  He let out a breath and fell towards the couch’s backrest.  “I’m okay.”

All Jensen could do was nod and help hoist the girls onto the couch.  “So what’re we watchin’?”

“ _The Little Mermaid_.  I hear it’s riveting,” Jared joked as he pushed play on the remote.

The minute the movie started, the girls knew exactly what they were in store for.  They have the whole DVD memorized, coming attractions and all.  Jensen wasn’t sure if they actually understood what was going on but they loved the songs and they’re proving to be huge animal lovers, fish included, so anything that combined animals, singing, and the hints of a princess was right up the twins’ alley.

The girls abandoned Jensen and nuzzled up next to Jared, one on each side.  They’re snuggly and careful to melt themselves perfectly around Jared’s baby bump.  Even though they were excited for the movie, it hadn’t started yet and they’re more focused on Jared.

Arianna made a scramble for the hem of Jared’s shirt and her little hands rucked it up to expose his round middle.  She gave a dramatic kiss to the side of her father’s belly, complete with lip smacking noises.  “Baby Chase,” she acknowledged.

“Yeah, baby Chase.”  Jared tucked her under his arm and held her close.  “You love your little brother?”

“Mmm hmm,” Arianna nodded enthusiastically and smacked another loud kiss to her father’s stomach.  “I love baby Chase.”

Brooke, face screwed in concentration, pulled on Jared’s sleeve and pouted.  “Baby Chase out now?”

Jared laughed, sliding Brooke closer as well.  “Soon, Brookey.  Really soon.  You going to be nice to him and take care of him?”

Chewing on her fingers, Brooke nodded.

Jensen wasn’t sure if Brooke’s response was an instinctual one, since he’d found Brooke was smart enough to realize that saying yes was usually the easier route.  But once the little girl draped her upper body across Jared’s belly, arms splayed out so that she was effectively hugging the swell, Jensen decided Brooke meant it.  Whatever fear they’d had over the girls not accepting their new brother were starting to melt by the day.

Brooke stayed there, hugging her unborn brother, while Jared played with her hair.  The minute the movie started, however, she popped up and squealed, eyes growing big as she stared in rapt attention.

Jared looked down at his daughters, eyes scanning the crisp bold words of declaration on their shirts.  “Jen…what are they wearing?”

“Those shirts your mom brought.  The ‘I’m a big sister’ ones.”

“Oh.”  Jared licked his lips and gave Jensen a nervous smile.  “They’re not big sisters yet…not technically.”

“You getting nervous now, Jare?”  Jensen slid closer, sandwiching Ari between them.

“No.” After a pause, Jared let out, “yes.  A little bit.”  Jared looked at the girls again.  “They look cute though.”

“Yeah.  I thought so.  Thought your mom would get a kick out of the fact that they’re wearing them.”  Jensen grabbed Jared’s hand, suddenly less nervous than he was this morning.  He’d already helped deliver their daughters in an elevator.  He was pretty sure they weren’t going to have that problem again, thus making all other options the easier route.  There was still a nervous current of excitement running through him but he wasn’t worried.  “Don’t be nervous, Jare.  Let’s just enjoy _this_.  Okay?”  He grabbed Jared’s hand and coaxed a nod out of the man.

The movie was uneventful, aside from Brooke hiding in Jared’s side when Ursula became giant sized, the girls were completely transfixed.  They sang along in gibberish and smiled up at their parents every so often as if to say, “look how amazing I am?”  Jared didn’t let out much indication that he was having contractions but Jensen knew when they were happening by the fact that his hold on Jensen’s hand intensified for about a minute every now and then.  Eventually, Jensen’s nervous habit of planning and recording information took over and he timed the span between contractions.  By the time the movie’s credits rolled, it had been nine minutes since the last time Jared contracted.  Done with the movie, the girls hopped off the couch but Jared stayed froze, rocking forward slightly and planting both hands on his middle.  “Oww.”

Watching the girls out of the corner of his eye, Jensen rubs a hand over Jared’s back.  “Hurts, huh?”

Looking at Jensen like he was an idiot for asking, Jared scoffed.  “ _Yeah_ , it hurts.”  He expression faded back to one Jensen was more accustomed to seeing and he sighed.  “I wanna get up and walk around, okay?  Can you…can you handle Ari and Brooke for a while?”

Standing to help pull Jared to his feet, Jensen nodded.  “Yeah.  They’re fine.  You sure you’re okay on your own?”

“It’s just our house, Jen.  I’m not going anywhere.  I just…I _can’t_ sit in one place anymore right now.”  He let his hand linger on Jensen’s shoulder for a moment before curling an arm under his belly and walking out of the room.

The next hour was fairly quiet.  The girls entertained themselves with a new set of puzzles he and Jared had bought specifically for this occasion and they delighted at destroying the puzzles more than completing them.  Jensen snuck curious glances at Jared as often as he dared, wanting to give his boyfriend space but also needing to know exactly what the man was up to.  For the most part, Jared was restless.  He shifted from room to room and did the same things almost obsessively.  Jensen must have seen him quadruple check the list they’d made for their parents or reassess their homebirth gear five times.

The silence ended when he heard Jared let out a loud curse.

Following his ears, it was easy to find Jared clutching onto a counter in their kitchen.  He was holding himself up on his forearms, head dipped low and clearly focusing on his breathing.  When he exhaled, he made a humming noise that was filled with too much distress for Jensen’s liking.

“Jare?”

Turning his head towards Jensen, Jared’s face was tense with pain.  “Worst one yet…oh god…”  Closing his eyes again, Jared groaned.

“Shh,” Jensen comforted as he got his hands on Jared, looping one over his back so his palm could flatten out over Jared’s contracting middle and pressing the other hand to the small of Jared’s back to steady him.  “Shh, you’re doing good, babe.  Just keep breathing.”

Jared nodded and focused on pacing his breathing as the pain tapered off.  “Oh, Jen…I…”  He looked up at the ceiling, chest huffing as a result of his nervous breathing.  “I wanna go upstairs.  I…I don’t want the girls to see me cursing and moaning.  I…” Giving Jensen a pleading look, he licked his lips.  “Call my mom.  I…I should have said that earlier.  I didn’t think the contractions would get this bad yet.”

“Okay, babe.”  Jensen pushed Jared’s hair back with both hands and bracketed the sides of his face.  “It’s okay, Jare.  I’ll call Jane and see what we should do.  You go upstairs.”

Nodding but looking like he was on the verge of tears, Jared stayed fixed in place.  “I don’t want to leave the girls.”

Jensen’s heart hurt from the conflicted pain in Jared’s voice.  “Jay, I know that, but you’re not _leaving_ them.  You’re just going upstairs.  They’ll be fine.  You know our parents are going to arrive with an arsenal of distractions and treats.  They won’t even miss us.”

Apparently Jensen said the wrong thing because Jared burst into tears.  “Woah, hey, Jared.  Why are we crying?”

“They won’t miss me because they’ll think I abandoned them for Chase.”  Jared sniffled and rubbed at each eye with the heel of his hand.

Jensen knew, without a doubt, that Ari and Brooke would not understand what giving birth to a baby entailed.  They would have no idea what was going on upstairs while their grandparents tried to keep them occupied downstairs.  Jensen also knew that they would never think Jared was abandoning them.  They’d be back in Jared’s arms long before that thought even occurred to them.  Jared was just being overly sensitive, not that Jensen was going to make that fact known.  “Jared, they won’t think that.  They love you too much to think anything of the sort.”  Using his thumb, he brushed away some fallen tears.  “Hey, Jared.  Look at me.”

Jared looked up, eyebrows lowered in a pitiful frown.

Staring with earnest sincerity into his boyfriend’s eyes, Jensen’s voice was calm and steady.  “You’re having a baby.  You have a lot on your plate right now.  Ari and Brooke will be fine.  You _know_ that.  Right now I only want you to worry about yourself and Chase, okay?”

After attempting a nod, Jared’s mouth took the shape of an ‘O’ and he pitched forward again, gasping though the pain.

“Breathe, Jay.”  Jensen rubbed along his spine in a slow up and down stripe.  “Don’t worry about the girls.”  He fell silent and listened to the sound of Jared’s breathing, smiling at the effort Jared was putting into staying focused.  “You’re doing really good, babe.”

When the pain dissipated, Jared turned and latched onto Jensen.  “I want to give them a hug before I go upstairs.”

Jensen nodded.  In the time it took them to get to their daughters, he had already sent a quick call to Jared’s mother, who assured him that both she and Donna would be over immediately.  There were plus sides to living within a 20 minute drive of your family.

Jared took a seat on the couch and watched his daughters destroy their latest completed puzzle.  “Ari?  Brooke?  Can you two come give me a big hug?  A _really_ big one?  I need it.”

Bother girls’ ears perked up and they rushed their father, who had his hands ready to brace their attack.  They latched onto him and squeezed him around the neck in enthusiastic hugs.

“Tell Papa you love him,” Jensen urged.

“I love you, papa!”  Brooke smiled and kissed Jared’s cheek.

“I love you too, Brookey.”  Jared planted a lingering kiss on Brooke’s round cheek.

“Love you more!”  Arianna broke in, puckering her lips and holding the pose in expectation.

Jared gave her little lips a quick kiss and laughed.  “Love you even more, Ari.”

Giggling, the girls went back to playing, their naivety leaving them blind to how much the moment was affecting Jared.  He was tearing up again but desire to keep any warning bells from going off in the girls’ heads stopped him from making a scene.  “I’m going upstairs,” he said to Jensen.

Jensen was torn.  He wanted to glue himself to Jared’s side and stick by him while he struggled through the rest of his beginning stages of labor.  The other part of him knew he needed to watch the girls.  Reassuring himself that their parents would be here soon, he pressed a hard kiss to Jared’s lips, resolved to parting for the time being.  “I’m so proud of you.”

“I haven’t really done anything more than moan and cry.  Hardly enough to be proud of,” Jared tried to joke.

“You’re doing a lot more than that.”  He smiled and pressed a palm to Jared’s middle.  “Don’t you dare have that baby till I come up there.”

“Oh trust me, he’s not coming just yet.”  With a loud exhale, Jared turned towards the stairs.

The next twenty minutes felt like hours to Jensen.  He made the girls sandwiches to keep his mind off of things and was about to snap them into their seats at the kitchen table when he heard the doorbell ring.  Both girls took off in the direction of the door, getting in Jensen’s way when he tried to open it.

“Mee-maw!”  Brooke bounced as she saw Sherri walk into the house.  A huge grin spread on her face and she dive bombed her grandmother’s knees.

“Hi, baby girl!”  Giving a questioning look to Jensen, “Ari?” Sherri guessed in a whisper.

“Brooke,” Jensen corrected.

Looking ashamed for mistaking one granddaughter for the other, Sherri blushed.  “Hi, Brooke!  Mee-maw missed you.”

Ari skirted past Sherri and landed in Donna’s arms.  The woman had crouched down to catch the little girl and wrapped her up in a hug.  “Hi, Arianna.”

“Hi, Mimi!”  Ari hugged her around the neck and hung on as she stood up.

Relief set in as soon as both woman were in the house.  “Thank god you’re here.”  After closing the door, Jensen stood to face both women, each with one twin on their hip.

“If I could have broken any more speeding laws we would’ve been here sooner,” Sherri joked.

Looking a little dazed from the drive over, Donna nodded in agreement.  “She’s not kidding.”

Sherri let out a guilty laugh before scanning the room.  “Where’s Jared?”

“He’s…He’s upstairs.  He…um…things were getting a little intense and he didn’t want to scare the girls.”  Jensen scratched at the back of his neck.  “I…I’m kind of dying to get up there but…you know…the girls were down here and…”

“And now we’re here,” Sherri finished.  “How excited are you, huh?”

“Really excited.  Although, I am not sure if it all set in yet.”  It was the truth.  Until now, Jensen had been doing a lot of waiting: waiting for Jared to go into labor, waiting to call their parents, waiting for Sherri and Donna to arrive.  Now their plan was switching over to a more hands on segment.  “God, I’m fucking nervous.”  He cupped his hand over his mouth at the accidental slip of the expletive.

Laughing in response, she gave Jensen a squeeze with the arm not holding Arianna.  “Baby, your dad was the same way.”  Smiling at the memory, she laughed again.  “I can’t believe my baby boy is going to be a daddy – again – today.”  It was hard to miss the excitement that radiated through her.

Sherri was sharing the same excitement, but hers came with something else.  She looked anxious, almost worried.  It made complete sense to Jensen that she’d be excited but also concerned about Jared.  From the beginning, Jared was dead set on not letting anyone else in the room when he was in labor.  He was private and notoriously skittish when a situation called for him to feel or be exposed.  It saddened Jensen to the point where he wondered what had happened to make Jared like that.  He wondered if he had ever been comfortable exposing himself to people but then he always remembered what had set of a chain of damaging events.  Jared’s biological father abandoning him in such a way made it hard to Jared to trust people, especially when biology was concerned.  Sherri seemed to understand but it left her nervous and unsettled.  “And Jared…Jared’s doing alright?”

“He’s awesome, Sherri.  I know you’re worried but he’s doing awesome.  Promise.”  Jensen hugged the woman in hopes of reassuring her as well as the fact that she looked like she needed it.

“And you promise to take good care of my baby, right?”  There was an emotional quaver to Sherri’s words and she sniffled.

“Of course.  You know I will.”

“I do know that sweetheart,” Sherri said with a nod and affectionate pat to Jensen’s cheek.  “Don’t you worry, we’ll take care of things down here.  Paul and your father will be over in a bit.  We figured they don’t need to stick around for the boring parts.

Jensen snorted.  He knew their families would descend on the Ackles-Padalecki residence in full force soon and they’d be a force to be reckoned with.  Keeping Mackenzie away, once she got word, would require a force of nature.  The house was calm for now but Jensen had a gut feeling that wouldn’t last long.

There was a loud groan of distress from upstairs, causing Jensen to flinch and tense.

“Go, baby.  Sounds like someone else needs your attention more than us.”  Donna gave a smile and elbowed Jensen in the ribs.

“Yeah…I…”  Jensen sucked in his lips and tried to come up with a reasonable order in which to give directions for the girls.  “Umm, lunch…I made…umm, there’s milk and we recorded some of their…peanut butter and television shows.”  He knew that he was making no sense but he couldn’t stop the stream of nonsense from leaving his mouth.

“Woah, Jensen, slow down,” Sherri laughed and turned to Brooke.  “Brookey, tell daddy to stay calm.”

“Stay calm, daddy!”  Brooke gave a shy smile and pulled both hands to her chest.

“I um..yeah…”  Raking a hand though his hair, Jensen gave a sheepish laugh.  “I made them two sandwiches.  And there is milk in the refrigerator for them.  They can have come fruit if they want.  They like strawberries,” Jensen paused while Sherri let out an amused snort.  “Jared and I recorded some of their favorite shows if they want to watch television.  And…and call me if you need anything.”

“Jen, between us we raised six kids.  I think we can handle two of them.  Go.  We’re good.”  Donna gave another nudge to Jensen’s ribs and then kissed his on the cheek.  “Come down and give us updates, okay?”

“Absolutely.  I’m going to check on him and then call Jane.  She said to give a call when his contractions are five minutes apart but I just want to double check.”  As much as he wanted to make sure his mother and Sherri had everything under control, he was dying to get upstairs.  His brain had been functioning on half speed since Jared had gone upstairs, seemingly useless when his other half was out of reach.  Now that he was able to reunite with his boyfriend, it was the only thing Jensen could focus on.  “Okay so…”  Leaning in, he gave Brooke and Arianna big kisses on the cheek.  “Be good for Mimi and Mee-maw.  I’m going to come down and see you in a little bit.  Okay babies?”

With smiles on his daughter’s face, Jensen took the steps two at a time until he was sprinting to their bedroom.  The door was cracked open and he pushed inside to find Jared sitting in the middle of the bed, eyes closed and hands refusing to leave his middle.  He had his legs splayed and bent at the knee so his feet were flat on the mattress.  Over the span of their separation, he changed into a pair of shorts and a looser fitting t-shirt.  As soon as he heart Jensen step into the room, his eyes flew open and honed in on the man.

In short, he looked miserable.  His face was tense with pain and he let out little exhausted puffs of air.

“I love you so damn much,” Jared let out in a rush.

The declaration surprised Jensen so much that he actually took a step backwards and let out an amused snort.

Catching the reaction, Jared raised an eyebrow.  “What?”

“No-nothing.  I just…Well, you look like that is the absolute last thing you want to say to me right now.”  Taking a step into the room, he sat at the edge of the bed.  “Not that I don’t appreciate hearing it.  You know how much I love you too.  It’s just…You looked about ready to say the exact opposite.”

“Well…I am just kind of reminding myself that I love you…because…this kinda sucks right now.”  Jared tried to laugh but started breathing rhythmically instead.

“I know it sucks.  And I’m glad you still love me.”  He put a hand on Jared’s middle and felt the contraction starting up.  “You’re doing so good, Jare.  Just keep breathing.”

Jared nodded and followed the suggestion while gabbing onto Jensen’s hand.

The connection felt right, like it always did.  Jensen cupped Jared’s hand between both of his and nodded.  “That’s it.  Shhh, you’re awesome, Jare.”  He brushed a thumb over Jared’s knuckles and smiled.  “I’m gonna call Jane, okay?  Keep her updated on what’s going on.”

Nodding, Jared let Jensen pull his hands away and fish out his cell phone.

It was a quick phone call.  Jane picked up on the first ring.  She was a lot calmer than Jensen was feeling at the moment but he assumed that when you delivered babies for a living, you learn how to categorize things into ‘completely normal’ and ‘emergency’ situations.  As sweet as she was, she wanted very little to do with Jensen and insisted he pass the phone off to Jared.

Jared grabbed the phone and tried to sound like his usual energetic self but the exhaustion was setting in.  “Hi.”  There was a mumble on the other line of the phone as Jane asked questions and despite her not being able to see him, Jared nodded along with his answers.  “No.  There’s a lot of pressure but my water hasn’t broken…I’m sure.”  He looked at the clock and sighed.  “Last one was six minutes ago.”  He nodded an “mmm hmm” and handed the phone back to Jensen.  “She said she’s going to head over in two hours or so unless my water breaks on its own.”

“Oh…okay.”  Jensen checked the phone and noticed Jared has disconnected it.  He put it on the nightstand table.  “So…you okay?”

“Yeah.  I’m…I’m…”  Jared moaned and rolled his hips.  “Fuck.”  He tried to arch his back and get away from the pain but it found him anyway and he let out a moan from low in his throat.  “This one hurts worse.”

Feeling helpless, Jensen could only slip behind Jared and try to support him in any way possible.  Jared dropped his head back onto Jensen’s shoulder and moaned again, this time struggling to find some type of breathing pattern to get him through the pain.

“Easy, Jay.  You’re doing good.”  Dropping a kiss to Jared’s temple, he let his hands roam over his boyfriend’s distended middle in a soothing pattern.

“I’m crazy,” Jared snorted.

“You’re not crazy, Jay.”

“No, I am.  I used to think that the only part of having a baby that sucked was the part when you actually pushed it out.  I used to think this wasn’t so bad, you know, back before getting pregnant was even in the cards.  I thought…I wanted babies and I thought doing this three times wouldn’t be so bad and I made that my goal.  I must have been crazy.  Maybe I don’t just remember the twins’ birth but this hurts.”  The tension left Jared’s body with the contraction and he collapsed completely into Jensen’s arms.

“Well...you were a little out of your mind when the twins were born.  I don’t think that is really a fair frame of reference.  Besides, we’ve got our three kids.  So…your goal wasn’t that far off.”

Jared let out a laugh and shook his head, the action making it loll left to right as he kept it tilted it back on Jensen’s shoulder.  “I said I wanted to get pregnant three times, not that I’d have three kids.  I guess I didn’t take twins into account.”

The words took a moment to actually make sense to Jensen.  If he heard right, that meant Jared wanted to have another baby.  Jensen would be lying if he told himself he hadn’t envisioned more babies between the two of them.  He wasn’t thinking of a sports team or anything, but he liked the sound of four kids.  He liked the sounds of Jared wanting more babies even more.  Sometimes, when Jared let out little inklings about his vision of their future, they set Jensen’s heart fluttering out of his body.  “You want another baby?”

“Woah, Jen.”  Jared turned his head to the side so he could look up at Jensen’s eyes.  “Let’s have this one first before we even think about that.  Hell, let’s make sure this one is potty trained before we think about having another one.  But, yeah, kinda pictured my life in terms of going through three pregnancies…even though my life took a lot of unplanned twists and turns.  Still, I’d want to do that with you.  This pregnancy, with Chase, was…well…”  His words drifted off and he let out a shaky breath.

“Shh, Jare, I know.”  Jensen did.  He’d seen it in Jared’s eyes throughout the whole pregnancy.  It was Jared’s second pregnancy but in some ways it was like his first all over again.  Medically, Jared knew what he was getting into.  He had past experience to go by and he was more comfortable with all the changes happening to his body.  Emotionally?  Going through his second pregnancy with Jensen made a world of difference.  There had been times when they talked and Jared would let slip how lonely he felt during his pregnancy with Ari and Brooke.  He’d willingly done it alone but he hadn’t realized what he had missed out on until Jensen went through every single step of his pregnancy with Chase with him; they were a team.  “Jared, I know…I’m so glad we did this _together_.  I know.”  He pressed another kiss to Jensen’s temple.

They stayed like that for a long while, Jared tensing up when he had a contraction and Jensen holding him and telling him how well he was doing.  After an hour, Jared got antsy.  It reminded Jensen of how stir-crazy Jared had gotten a few hours ago when he paced the house.  He got up and moved around the room, laboring one his hands and knees for several contractions before Jared got restless and walked around the room, grabbing onto furniture when a contraction hit.

In the downtime between Jared panting and moaning, they both heard the shrill cries from one of their daughters.  They weren’t the type of wavering cries that both girls let out when they were scared or injured, which was just enough to keep Jared and Jensen from being consumed with worry.  Jensen was sure the crying would stop, but it didn’t, it got louder and to the point where the little girl was choking on her sobs in an attempt to get air.

Jared looked conflicted, eyes darting towards the door, back to Jensen and towards the door again.  He wasn’t too far from it while faced the wall and labored against it on braced forearms.  He licked his lips and let out a pathetic sigh.  “Jen…”

“I know, Jay.  But they’re okay.  You know our parents won’t let anything happen to them, but you also know they’d come get us if anything was seriously wrong.”  Jensen went to touch Jared but he flinched.  He noticed that Jared had gotten moodier in the last twenty minutes; any distraction from focusing on what his body was doing only added in amplifying his irritable attitude.

Their daughter’s cry got louder and Jared shattered.  “Jen…she…Can you go?  Go see what she wants?”

“I’m sure she’s fine.”  As much as Jensen wanted to check on his daughter, he equally didn’t want to leave Jared.

The cry came again, making Jared quiz his eyes shut and slam a fist against the wall.  “Go!”

There wasn’t any real anger behind the words, just heat as a result of being in labor for so many hours.  Still, they were powerful enough for Jensen to take heed and listen to them.  “Okay, Jay.  I’ll be right back.”

Jensen ducked out of the room and ran down the stairs, immediately surprised by how many people were in his house.  Paul and Alan has joined the mix by so had Mackenzie and Justin, baby Addison in tow.  Arianna was in Donna’s arms, tears rolling down her face.  “What happened?” The question left Jensen’s mouth in a panic.

“She’s fine.” Donna reassured.  “She just…I don’t know.  She was playing and then she wanted Jared.  And…well…we couldn’t bring her to him so she started crying.  We can’t get her to stop.”

Shaking his head knowingly, Jensen plucked the crying girl from his mother’s arms and cradled her against him.  “She does that sometimes…with Jared.  The two of them are cut from the same cloth.”

“Like you and Brooke?”  Mackenzie chided.

“Yeah, kinda like that.”  Jensen knew that the twins were…unique.  In some ways they were mirror images of one another but in other’s they had individual qualities.  Despite loving both their parents equally, Jared liked to romanticize it and say that the twins had each chosen a parent to cling to, almost imprint on.  He looked at Ari and kissed her forehead.

“Papa.”  Ari sniffled and rubbed her tear streaked cheek on his shoulder.

“Aww, angel-face.  Papa and I are busy right now.”  Jensen frowned and rocked his daughter.

Her response was sniffle, though quieter than the previous ones.  “Papa.  Papa.”  She made a sad puppy noise and rubbed at her face.  “Daddy, I want papa.”

“I know, Ari.  I know.  He misses you too.”  He looked over Ari’s head and caught sight of Brooke trying to size up the situation.  “Come here, munchkin.”  He knelt down and patted his knee with his free hand.  Brooke broke into a run and landed herself in Jensen’s arms.  “Hey, Brooke.”

With both girls in his arms, they seemed to calm down, each one snuggling into the crook of Jensen’s neck.  “Did they nap?” he asked as he turned towards the rooms other occupants.

“Not really.  They were too excited about seeing everyone,” Sherri offered in explanation.  “How’s Jared?”

“He’s hanging in there.  Jane, our midwife, is supposed to be showing up in an hour or so if Jared’s water doesn’t break on its own.  I think…I think he’s exhausted but he’s doing great.”

Mackenzie snorted.  “Your boyfriend is a freaking superhero, Jen.  Seriously, I have no idea how he’s still functioning after,” she paused to look at her watch, “like ten hours of labor.”

A proud smirk turned up the corners of Jensen’s lips.  “Yeah, he’s awesome like that.”

There was a loud moan from upstairs followed by muffled curses.

“Someone’s not shy about being loud,” Paul noted as he heard his son’s voice, eyes traveling towards the source of the noise.

“Oh…you have no idea how loud the two of them can be until you spend one drunken night sleeping on their couch,” Mackenzie let out before realizing her present company.  At the mention of their son’s sex life, Paul looked like he wanted to sink into the couch and Alan smacked his forehead.

“Kenzie!”  Jensen and Donna said in unison while glaring at the woman.

Shrugging, Mackenzie blushed.  “What?  I’m just speaking the truth.”

Narrowing his eyes at his sister, Jensen swore he’d find a way to get back at her, she’d just have to wait for another day, preferably not one his son was being born on.  Right now, he really wanted to make sure Ari and Brooke were okay so he could get his ass back upstairs so he could see what sparked the sudden increase in Jared’s volume.  He knew it was a pathetic excuse for parenting but he was going to use bribery.  He was going to use every dirty trick in his bag.  “Hey, monkeys.  Do you two want some ice cream?”

Both girls head bobbed in quick yeses.  Jensen was floored by the therapeutic values of ice cream, especially in girls so tiny. 

“Okay.  How about you go with pop-pop and grandpa and get some ice cream?  Does that sound good?”  Jensen let them on the ground and gently thumped their butts, sending them in Alan and Paul’s direction.

Alan gave his son a reassuring nod and Jensen knew that the girls were taken care of.  “If Jane gets here, bring her upstairs.  Okay?”

His family’s nods were the only things needed before sprinting back upstairs.

He found Jared sitting on the floor, back resting against the bed and legs spread.  He had his elbows propped on his bent knees and was holding his head in his hands.  “Why doesn’t he want to come out?”  The frustration in Jared’s voice was clear and he groaned in discomfort.  “The twins didn’t take this long.”

Within seconds, Jensen was on his knees beside Jared and brushing his sweaty hair back.  “Jare, the twins are a different story.  You were under a lot of stress then, not to mention you were panicking.”

Jared looked up at Jensen with wild eyes.  “Do you want me to panic?  Because I can panic!  I can have a full blown freak out.  In fact, if my water doesn’t break soon I’m going to…” Jared had to stop speaking to breath and he started shaking.  “Oh god.”

“Hey, hey, hey.  You’re okay, Jare.  You’re doing so great.  I’m so proud of you.”  He wrapped his arms around Jared until he slumped limply against him.  “You’re okay.”  Jared made a noise between a whimper and a yelp and buried his face in the comfort of Jensen’s chest, his boyfriend resting his cheek right over Jensen’s rapidly beating heart.  Looking down, he couldn’t help but press a kiss to his sweaty forehead, heart shattering at the pained look Jared was wearing.  “Come on Jared, breathe, okay?”  He looked at the younger man struggling though a contraction.  “Jared, look at me.”  His voice was soft and reassuring, gently coaxing Jared to meet his eyes.  “You need to calm down and take deep breaths.  In through your nose and out through your mouth.”  He started exaggerating his breathing so that Jared would copy him, which he did.  “That’s it.  Nice and slow.”  Smiling, he kept breathing a long with Jared as he rubbed a soothing palm down Jared’s shoulder and over his middle.  Jared’s breathing hitched and Jensen shushed him softly and kept breathing with him.  Something clicked and the panic in Jared’s eyes subsided at the same time his chest rose and fell at a calmer rate.

Jared let out sighs on the tail ends of his exhales and swallowed before nodding to Jensen.  His cheeks flushed with embarrassment.  “I’m sorry Jen, it’s just that…well…they’re getting closer and more intense.”  Rubbing a hand over his face, Jared let his head fall back towards the mattress bracing his back.  “You calmed me down like that when I had a panic attack in the elevator before the girls were born.  Remember?” He reached down and pulled Jensen’s hand towards his lips so he could kiss the man’s knuckles.

“Yeah, I remember.  It worked then too.”  Jensen smiled at the memory of holding Jared in his arms for the first time.

Jared struggled to sit up straighter.  “They’re getting really close, like four minutes apart.  I was timing them obsessively while you were gone.  And they hurt.  I…I want to go in the shower.  Jane said it was okay, remember?  She said if you were with me then a warm shower might help with the discomfort.”

With a nod, Jensen got to his feet.  “Anything you want, babe.”  He helped Jared to his feet and left him on the edge of the bed.  “I’ll go turn the water on and get things ready for you.”

By the time the water heated up, Jensen had returned to the room, helped Jared disrobe before disrobing himself and they slowly got into the shower together.  When the first contraction hit, Jared looped his arms around Jensen’s neck and hung on, swaying his hips through the pain in some rhythmic pattern.  Whatever routine they’d picked up on seemed to work and Jared kept his back to the shower head, letting the warm water cascade down his back, moaning as the pain rolled through him.  Though he was making a lot of noise, most of it was a form of vocalized breathing or humming and it seems to hold less distress than the noises he was making earlier.

“Feel better, Jay?”  Jensen asked as he widened his stance to support more of Jared’s weight.  It was a difficult task but he figured it out.

“Yeah.  So much better.”  Jared closed his eyes and rested his cheek against Jensen’s shoulder.  “It’s just…the pressure is so intense.”

They let words fall away and rocked their hips together under the stream of water.  It wasn’t sexual but it was sensual and Jensen couldn’t stop himself from cupping Jared’s face and kissing his lips softly several times before lingering there.  Jared smiled against his lips before letting out a yelp and gasping.  His hands left Jensen’s neck and flew to his stomach, along with his wide eyed stare.

“My water just broke,” Jared stated in disbelief.

Jensen looked down past Jared’s middle and saw rivulets of straw colored water swirling down the drain with the bathwater and it was all the confirmation he needed.  “See?  That’s good, babe.”  He tried to be reassuring but adrenaline shot threw him.  The last time they were in this situation, Jared’s next announcement had been that he had to push.  The memory of it all still made Jensen’s heart pound.

“Yeah…it…”  Jared’s legs buckled and Jensen barely had time to grab onto him.  “Bed. Now.  Oh shit.”  He froze in place, knees bent so that he was in a high squat and he let out another yelp of pain.  “Fuck…contraction!”

Getting a better hold on Jared, Jensen bent his own knees to keep them on the same eyelevel.  “You got this, Jare.  Just breathe with me and you’ll get through this one.  Okay?”  Jensen picked up a breathing pattern, just as before, in hopes that Jared would mimic him and focus on getting though the pain.  Instead of breathing, Jared let out a whimper.  “No, Jay, come on.  Just like before.  Right?”  This time, when Jensen took a long inhale, Jared followed suit, puffing dramatically and letting out a forceful exhale square in Jensen’s face.

“Fuck this hurts.”  Jared bit his lip and resurfaced from the pain.  “Do you think Jane’s here?  Because I think this guy is suddenly in a hurry.”

“She should be.”  Turning off the showerhead, Jensen made sure Jared had his feet securely under him.  “Let’s get out of the shower and check.  Okay?”  He reached out a hand towards Jared and helped him step onto the bathmat. 

They’d barely made it towards the bed Jared had demanded earlier when Jared cursed and fell to his knees in front of the bed, pitching forward and bracing his weight on the edge of the bed.  “Ugh!”  He scrambled for handholds on the bed’s mattress and groaned through the rest of the contraction.  It his him hard and fast, slamming into him and making him dizzy from the pain.

Standing frozen for the moment, Jensen wasn’t sure what to do.  He tried to help Jared up onto the bed by his boyfriend swatted him away.

“No…this is good…this feels good.”  Jared grit his teeth and fell down to his forearms, leaning into the bed while widening his knees.  “Don’t wanna move.”

“Okay, Jare,” Jensen’s voice was soft and understanding as he watched Jared labor.  Pulling his eyes off his boyfriend for a minute, he scanned the room, slightly shocked to see it empty.  He would have thought his family would have let Jane in while they were in the shower.  He crawled over the bed towards his phone and found the message indicator light flashing.  It took three seconds for him to connect to his voice mail.  It took fifteen more for his heart to drop out.  Jane was on her way but was at a complete standstill on the road due to an accident.  She called several times, all going to voicemail while the men were in the shower.

Panic took hold.  This wasn’t part of their plan.  This wasn’t what was supposed to happen.  This time the weight of helping Jared safely through their child’s birth was not supposed to be left to Jensen alone.  A thousand scary situations flashed through Jensen’s head but a pained noise of agony from Jared made him remember that he could do this alone and he may very well have to.

Jared looked up at him, catching the obvious look of panic on Jensen’s face and Jared furrowed his brows, searching for some answer as to why.  “Jen, what?”

“It looks like it’s me and you again, Jay.”  Jensen got on his knees beside Jared, nodding his own head.  He wasn’t exactly sure who he was trying to reassure, himself or his boyfriend, but he kept speaking calmly nonetheless. 

“Wha-what?”  Jared’s eyes widened and his awkward panicked panting returned.  “What?” he asked again, like saying it a second time would make things clearer.

“Jane…she…she’s stuck behind some type of accident.  She said she’s still heading this way so…maybe she’ll make it here before the baby does.”    With a hopeful smile, Jensen ran a hand over Jared’s back.

“Oh..okay…Okay.”  Jared nodded.

Jensen couldn't tell if Jared really was okay or his he was on the brink of having a meltdown. He looked focused and composed, but Jensen had been deceived by those facts before. “I’m going to go tell everyone downstairs what is going on and to send her up as soon as she gets here.  I’ll be right back.”  Kissing Jared’s forehead, he took three steps towards his clothing before he heard Jared yelp.

“Jensen!”  Jared choked on a breath and a tremor ran though his body.  “Fuck!”

It only took one look at Jared to know that there was no way Jensen was leaving him, not now.  He was letting out pained noises and shaking.  “What is it, Jay?”

“I think Chase wants out…now.  Right now.”  Still holding his upper torso up on the bed, Jared spread his knees further apart and fell into a deeper squat.  “Don’t think Jane’s gonna make it for this.  He’s…oh fuck, he’s right there, Jen.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes I’m _fucking_ sure!”  Jared tensed and grit his teeth, curling his lip up through the pain.  “Fucking burns.”

“Okay…”  Jensen dropped beside the laboring man and pressed his hands to his middle.  He’d done this before and had made sure to spend countless hours in classes learning how to do it again.  As terrified as he was to go at this alone, he knew he could do it.  He steadied Jared’s hips and ran his fingers over his boyfriend's opening, only mildly surprised when he connected with the barest sliver of their son’s head.  “Okay, Jare…It’s okay.  We can do this.  Just you and me.  We’re good.”  He watched the back of Jared’s head and saw him give a rapid nod.

“Trust you, Jen.  Just…” whatever Jared was going to say got lost in a cursing groan of pain.

“Why don’t we get you up onto the bed?”  Jensen suggested as he tried to hoist Jared’s weight up and more firmly on the mattress.

“No!”  Jared sounded feral and desperate.  “No.  I…can’t move.  Fuck…gotta push Jen.  He’s right there.  Fuck, fuck, _fuck_.”  Jared, letting out a loud growl, started choking on panting breaths.  “Can’t…he’s coming, he…he…fuck, Jen!”  Snaking a hand down, Jared ran his fingers over his stretching opening and came in contact with the slippery part of his son’s head.  “Gotta push…gotta nnggh!”  Jared’s whole body went tense as he bore down.

This position was not one they were supposed to be working with.  It made things difficult for Jensen to see but Jared seemed set on staying that way and since he was doing all the work right now, Jensen had to default to that.  He watched Jared push and saw the baby’s skull peekaboo some more but ultimately slip back to its original position.

Gabbing the towel he’d tied around his waist, Jensen used it to pad the floor area between Jared’s spread legs.  He grabbed the extra towel he’d brought for Jared, using it to wipe the area around Chase’s skull clear so he could get a better picture of what was going on.  “His head is right here, babe.  You felt it, right?”

“Mmm hmm.”  Jared pressed his palms to the mattress, forcing them down in time with another push.

Jensen watched Jared push, as in awe at the way his boyfriend’s body worked to bring their son into the world as he was when he saw Ari and Brooke’s birth.  He saw the sliver of skull expand and smiled.  “Good job, Jay!  Come on, push.”

Tilting his hips forward, Jared locked them there and pushed with a scream as intense as the effort.  The stretch and burn that resulted from the action shocked Jared and his shaking intensified.  Just like last time, Jared reverted to holding his breath while pushing, letting it all out on the end of the huge effort.  He gave another scream when the baby started crowing fully.

“Breathe, Jared.  Come on.  You’re doing great.  His head’s coming now.  Come on, feel it.”  He helped Jared’s hand trace Chase’s head.  “See what you’re doing?  You’re doing it, Jay.”  There was no way Jensen could get across how insanely proud he was of Jared at that moment but he hoped Jared heard it in his voice.

Things kicked into high gear after that.  There was a lot of straining and pushing before Jared let out a shaky cry and panicked, hands scrambling to climb up the mattress but lower body refusing to move.  “Out!  Get him out!”

“You’re doing it.  Come on.  Give me a push.  A really good one,” Jensen coached while he kept both hands on the back of Jared’s thighs in hopes that the connection would keep up Jared’s strength.

“Ugh!”  Knees splaying and pelvis lowering towards the floor, Jared pushed again.

“That’s it!  You’ve got this.”  Cupping the baby’s emerging skull, Jensen watched Jared push their son’s head into his hands.  Despite knowing it was about to happen, the moment Chase's skull came into view, Jensen let out a gasp of surprise.  “Oh, shit, Jared!  His head’s out, you did it baby.  And he’s…he’s…”  Jensen wanted to say that the baby was doing great so far but he couldn’t get the words out.  He was stuck in the surreal moment of watching his son enter the world into his own hands, the same hands that delivered Chase's sisters.  The baby’s face was scrunched up and covered in the messiness of birth but Jensen felt amazed to watch him being born and know he would love him forever.

“Oh!”  Jared exclaimed as he felt his son’s head free itself and turn in Jensen’s hands.  He reached back to feel and his breathing hitched on a sob.  “I want him out, Jen.  I wanna hold him.”  Craning his head to the side, he tried to lock eyes with Jensen.  Lips parted in a desperate attempt to get enough oxygen, the sweat on Jared's face only served to amplify his exhaustion.

“You gotta push, Jare.  You’re almost there.  You’re doing so well.  You’re fucking amazing Jared.”  Jensen wiped at his tear filled eyes with his forearm.  “You…doing this?  _You’re fucking amazing._ ”

There was a weird lull where the tension in Jared’s body went out and he was left to let out little moans of discomfort while labor and pushing seemed to be put on hold.  Jensen didn’t want to pull at Chase but Jared’s body didn’t seem to want to let go of him.

An unexpected calm set it, one so intense that Jensen had no idea why he initially feared this moment.  Helping Jared deliver their son without any assistance wasn’t scary, it was empowering.  It made sense in so many ways and spoke to the trust he and Jared had built together.  Smiling, Jensen thought maybe they could do anything they set their minds to.

Jared started panting heavily, his body giving little pushes on each exhale.  “Come on, Chase.  Come on, baby.”  Thighs shaking, he gave a loud push, grunting with the force of it before taking a deep breath and doing it again.

Jensen watched Chase inch forward.  “That’s perfect, Jared.  Just a little more and he’s out.  I promise.  Come on.  Push!” 

Cursing, Jared took another deep breath and moaned through a powerful push.  Reaching back, his fingers brushed along Jensen’s just in time for him to feel Chase slip into Jensen’s waiting hands.  With an exhausted cry, Jared fell back on his heels.

Jensen’s heart exploded the minute his son was born into his waiting arms.  The newborn fit perfectly and time slowed down just as it had when the twins were born.  Jensen couldn’t breathe; he could barely see because of all the tears in his eyes.  And then he heard the best thing in the world for the third time in his life.  Holding Chase on his side to clear out his airways, the baby let out a weak cry before getting annoyed with Jensen’s ministrations and giving a more forceful cry.

For a second, Jensen was content to let the baby cry in his arms and prove to everyone in the house that he had arrived and he wanted everyone to know about it.   The baby’s lungs sounded loud and strong, proving that despite his small size, he could pack quite the punch.

“Oh, Jare…he’s perfect.”  Jensen snuggled Chase up against his chest, the skin to skin contact only then reminding him that he was still nude from the shower.  That should have been awkward, but it wasn’t.  Jensen was totally the type of person to buy into a lot of emotional, sentimental gestures but he underestimated the intense impact that holding his squalling son against his naked chest would have.  They were both messy and crying and it was prefect in every way.  Well…almost perfect.  He looked up and saw Jared practically collapsed on the bed, his boyfriend resting his cheek on the matress and giving relieved shaky exhalations.  Carefully, he lifted Jared’s left foot and was able to shimmy the umbilical cord underneath.  He could tell from the shivering across Jared’s back that his boyfriend was crying but he wasn’t sure if it was from hormones, emotions, exhaustion or a mix of all three.

“Jen, can you...help?  I wanna see him.  He’s okay?”  Jared struggled to turn around on his own but couldn’t figure out how to navigate through their awkward positioning. 

It took a moment but Jensen finally helped Jared face outward.  “He’s doing great, Jared.”  Jensen gently cradled the crying boy in his arms and turned him towards Jared.  "He’s amazing.  You’re amazing.”  He made a movement to hand the baby over to Jared, knowing he’d have to worry about delivering the placenta soon but Jared shook his head.  “Huh?”

“You hold him.  I…I want you to.  You never got to hold Ari and Brooke too much once they were born.  I want to watch you hold our son.”  A tear ran down Jared’s cheek and he brushed at it.  Despite the tears and exhaustion, a smile spread across his face.  “God, it makes it _so_ worth it,” he said as he couldn’t take his eyes off Jensen and Chase.

Kissing Chase on the forehead, Jensen couldn’t stop staring at him.  He had four wiggly limbs with the perfect number of toes and fingers.  He was definitely a boy and not too shy about proving that.  His eyes were shaped like the girls' and Jared's and secretly Jensen hoped they’d be green as well.  In fact, Chase looked similar to Ari and Brooke when they were born.  Aside from his gender, the only major difference was that Chase was completely bald.  It actually gave him a cherubic look, making his face look rounder and chubbier than it really was.  Jensen couldn’t deny that it was adorable.  “Here, Jared.  Meet our little boy.”  It wasn’t that Jensen didn’t want to take Jared up on his offer to let Jensen monopolize Chase, but he knew Jared was probably just as eager to hold him.  Besides, the man deserved it.  With careful moments, Jensen transferred the baby to Jared’s arms, lingering beside his boyfriend so he could wrap one arm around both of them at the same time.

Eager didn't even begin to describe the grabby motions Jared made towards their son as soon as it became apparent that Jensen planned on sharing.  Letting out a hic-cry, Jared wiped away some gunk from Chase’s brow with his thumb.  “Hi, cutie.”  Smiling, one of Jared’s tears dropped onto Chase’s cheek.  After a long powerful wail, he shushed the baby, successfully helping the cries taper off into whimpers.  “Jen, he looks just like you.”

“Nah, he looks like the girls.”  Jensen shook his head despite the fact that Jared’s words had just made his heart swell with adoration and pride.

“Yeah. Exactly.  He looks just like you.”  Jared gave a smile before looking down at Chase.  “You made daddy and papa do this whole thing all on our own again, didn’t you?  You just had to be stubborn and take you sweet time for certain parts and then rush your way through the end.”  He kissed Chase’s crown.  “I don’t care.  I’m just glad you’re here safe and sound.”  Looking up at Jensen, Jared smiled.  “Look what we did, Jen.  He’s so…he’s so amazing.”  Using his pinky finger to toy with the baby’s lips, Chase started suckling on Jared’s finger.  “Papa loves you so much, Chase.  I love your daddy to.”  He looked up at Jensen while he spoke.

“Love you too, Jared.  I’m so damn proud of you.  I think…I think you’ll never stop amazing me and making me proud.” Overwhelmed with emotion, he kissed Jared hard, their lips smiling against each others but parted like they counted contain the happy sounds leaving with each breath.

Chase let out a sound that was much more puppy-like than newborn and suckled more furiously at Jared’s finger.  Getting the point, Jared shifted the baby at his chest, cradling his head and using a finger to coax his lips open again before guiding Chase’s open mouth to his nipple.  It took a few tries before Chase stopped making puppy sounds and latched onto Jared, lips moving in intermittent spurts of sucking as he nursed.

Jensen sighed, and nestled in next to Jared, resting his chin on Jared’s shoulder so he could watch Chase’s little lips work at Jared’s nipple.  It had been years since Jensen first watched Jared feed the twins but the loving gesture had the same effect now as it did then.  He was transfixed.  He couldn’t stop watching the connection between the two and the amazing-beautiful-perfect way Jared looked.  The younger man looked calm, a complete turnaround from the concentrated efforts during the throes of labor.  His eyes were closed and he relaxed into the moment.  Cracking open an eye, as if expecting to find exactly what he did, Jared smirked at Jensen.  “What?”

“Nothing.  You’re just...you’re perfect.  I missed seeing you like that.”  Smiling, Jensen kissed Jared’s lips.

“About to get a lot less prefect.”  Jared winced and tensed his face in discomfort.

Jensen knew what that meant.  Without disturbing Chase’s first meal, Jensen got the supplies he, Jared and Jane had compiled for Chase’s birth.  Most of them were stored in a container that was meant to catch Jared’s placenta.  It took two good pushes from Jared and the mess was taken care of, neatly caught in the container.  Once that was taken care of, Jensen worked at clamping off the umbilical cord and cutting it.  Messy jobs out of the way, Jensen sealed the container and pushed it aside for medical professionals to deal with.  Now he had the job of cleaning them both off and getting Jared off the floor.  In the process of it all, he laughed.  “I can’t believe you had our son on our carpet floor.”

Jared sighed.  “I couldn’t help it…I…”  Snorting, “Hey, it’s better than an elevator.”

“True.”  Sneaking a kiss to Jared’s lips. Jensen managed to get his boyfriend and their son cleaned up and snuggled into their bed.  Somehow, Jensen figured Chase must have inherited his father's appetite because the newborn barely budged from Jared's chest, only nursing more vigorously when Jensen tried to held Jared's cradle him close while they shifted on the bed.

Once situated, Jared frowned.  “I want our girls.  Can you get them?  I want them to meet Chase?”

The idea was practically ripped from Jensen’s mind.  As perfect at their quiet time with Chase was, there was something missing.  “Of course, Jare.”

Slipping into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, Jensen made his way downstairs.  He assumed Chase’s cries had made their way downstairs because most people looked teary eyed with big smiles on their face.  “So…It’s a boy.”  The announcement came with an excited laugh from Jensen as he scratched the back of his neck and grinned.  “Papa and baby are great.”

There was a rush of congratulatory hugs and jokes about his and Jared’s kids not liking to wait around for medical professionals.  Donna was crying and practically refused to let her son out of her hold.  Ari and Brooke looked lost in the shuffle, not sure what all the fuss was about and getting more nervous by the minute.  He promised everyone that they could come up and see Chase for themselves but they wanted a few minutes together with just Arianna and Brooke.  Thankfully, everyone understood.

“Ari, Brooke, wanna go see papa?”  Jensen asked.  Both girls nodded and took his outreached hands, following him towards the stairs and taking their time in climbing them.  When they made it upstairs, Jensen held their hands tightly to prevent them from barging into their bedroom and jumping on the bed.

Jared’s eyes lit up when he saw his daughters.  The exhaustion faded momentarily while he gave a wide smile.  “Hi, babies!  I missed you.  Come meet baby Chase,” Jared said while patting the empty spot beside him on the bed.

Jensen helped the girls climb onto the bed and they crawled towards Jared.

“Ohhh!”  Brooke’s eyes widened when she caught sight of the baby nuzzled at Jared’s chest.  “Baby Chase!”

“That’s right, baby Chase.”  Jared shifted the blanket he’d wrapped around the baby so his daughters could get a better look at their brother.  “Say hello.”

Eyes just as wide as Brooke’s, Arianna peaked over Jared’s arm at the baby and spoke in a whisper soft voice.  “Hi, baby Chase.”

Jensen laughed at the fact that he was sure his daughters think their brother’s name is Baby Chase.  He nudges Arianna closer and gets onto the bed as well.  “That’s your little brother and you two have to be really careful around him.  You can’t play rough or hit him.”

Ari reached out a hand to touch Chase but Brooke got in her face.  “Beeeeee careful, Ari.”

With a soft laugh, Jared guided Ari’s hand towards Chase’s and the baby instinctively curled his hand round Ari’s finger.  Whether it startled Ari or not, both her parents weren’t sure, but the girl squeaked and yanked her hand away.  The squeak made Chase pick up crying again, which immediately prompted Brooke to cover her ears with her hands.

“Too loud, baby Chase.  Shhh!”  Brooke reached out a hand and Chase grabbed it as his cries wound down.

Ari watched Brooke wiggle her hand gently, not trying to break away from Chase’s hold but trying to test its strength.  Curiously, Ari got closer again and touched Chase’s other hand, this time staying still when her little brother held her hand.

The moment was sweet, both girls being exceedingly gentle with Chase and Jared.  He knew there would be hundreds of other moments that wouldn’t be so perfect but this was a good reminder as to why everything was worth it.  Making sure Arianna and Brooke were safely transfixed with their brother, he snuck out of the room and called down for their family to come meet the new arrival.

In his head, Jensen pictured something more grand scale to introduce his son to the world.  He was prone to daydreaming and over planning and thinking of everything in terms of being spectacular.  However, when his family laid eyes on the wide awake bundle of boy in Jared’s arms, everything was perfect.  He didn’t need grand plans or announcements.  His and Jared’s smiles could speak for themselves.

With everyone’s attention on him, Jared cradled Chase in one arm.  “So…I guess you’d all like to meet Chase Paul Ackles-Padalecki.”

The name was new to everyone but Jensen, Jared and the girls.  Jensen had no idea how they kept it that way, considering their daughters are blabber mouths.  If anyone had an indication that Chase was the babies name before now, then they are great actors.  People cooed at the baby but Paul looked choked up, like he’s not sure he heard right.

Taking a step towards the bed, everyone let Paul take a place at the edge, near Jared.  “You…You named him after me?”

Sucking in his lips, Jared nodded.

“Ohh, Jared.”  Despite trying to hold it in, and covering it immediately with the heel of his hand, Paul let a tear fall.  He cupped Jared’s face and kissed the top of his head.  “You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to.  Well…we wanted to.  Jensen thought of it and I think it is perfect.”  Shifting so he could face Chase towards Paul, he held the baby a few inches away from his chest.  “You wanna hold your grandson.”

“Of course I do.”  Paul swallowed to keep the tears at bay and let out a laugh.  “Come here little guy.”  Paul’s a little unsure of himself but with Jared’s help he got the baby into his arms and smiled proudly at the rest of the room.  His eyes landed on Jensen and he nodded.  “You two’ve done good.”

There was a commotion on the stairs and a flustered woman in her mid-fifties brushed in.  She looked frazzled but once she took in the going-ons of the room, she settled down.  “Oh…looks like I’m too late.”

Jensen laughed.  He was tempted to say that she wasn’t late at all, that missing out on Chase’s birth helped make it something special between Jared and Jensen.  Everything worked out well in the end, despite Jane’s absence and Jensen wouldn’t change that for the world.

Jane wasn’t late at all.

She’s just in time to help with all the medical checks and measuring Chase.

She was just in time to give Jared and Jensen a moment the needed to help wash away the lingering fear from Brooke’s birth.

She was just on time and so was Chase.

And Jensen couldn’t wipe that damn smile off his face because Jared had given them another perfect baby and there was no denying that type of commitment.


End file.
